Page 44 of A Little Complicated

His mouth twitches. “Depends on the day.”

I scoff and shake my head. “Fine, you don’t even need to trade with me. I’ll take both weeks so your pansy ass can recover from deadlifts.”

“All right.” He lifts his hands in surrender and heads down the hall toward his bedroom, calling over his shoulder, “Tell Lia hi for me!”

Dick.

I laugh under my breath but glance out the window one more time, unable to help it.

The girl’s gorgeous with her father’s hat on her head and her curls cascading down her back. She’s still smiling at whatever she’s reading, though I can’t see the book’s title. I tell myself I don’t really care. The girl’s a pain in my ass on a good day, even finding a way to ruin my Saturday, despite my best attempts at keeping my distance from her. Yet here I am, putting myself in her vicinity. I shouldn’t. But the idea of Reeves being this close to her when she looks fucking edible is more than I can handle.

Tearing my attention from the swell of her ass, I head to the garage and pull the lawn mower out, wheeling it around the side of the house until I reach the backyard.

She must be listening to music because she doesn’t flinch or look my way as I round the corner. I should get started, but her blanket is sprawled in the middle of the grass, making it impossible to do my job until she moves out of the way.

Someone else should be doing this. Not me. Not when she isn’t mine.

So, why am I out here wasting my time?

Annoyed with myself, I scratch my jaw, watching Ophelia. Still lying on her stomach, she lifts her feet into the air, crossing one ankle over the other as she flips the page of her book.

Oblivious.

Fucking oblivious.

There’s some bark around one of the flower beds my mom and Aunt Kate planted a while back. I pick a couple of pieces up and toss them at her. When one hits her upper thigh, she peeks over her shoulder.

Her brows crease, and she pulls one of her AirPods out of her ear. “Can I help you?”

“What are you doing out here?”

“Uh, what does it look like I’m doing?” she returns. “I’m soaking in some Vitamin D.”

“Ah, so my brother didn’t give you what you needed before he left this morning?”

“Some what?” Her nose scrunches. “Wait, I get it. Vitamin D, as indick.” She rolls her eyes, clearly unimpressed, adding, “And, ew. Gross.”

“Sex is gross?”

“Discussing it with my boyfriend’s brother is,” she quips.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little Vitamin D, Opie. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Mm-hmm,” she hums. “Of course not. Glad to see sarcastic Maverick’s back.”

With a smirk, I reply, “Baby, he never left.”

“Sure, he didn’t.” Her lips bunch on one side. “Now, how can I help you?”

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep my sarcasm in check, motioning to the lawn mower in front of me. “I need to mow the lawn.”

“Okay.” She motions toward the grass surrounding her the same way I had the lawn mower. “Mow away. When you get close, I’ll lay the blanket on the part you’ve already cut.”

Well, damn, if that isn’t a logical resolution. It still doesn’t keep her away from me.

“You should go inside,” I suggest.

“Why?”

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